Mower having an access door and a tongue

The cutter bar of a mower (10), like a side-pull mower-conditioner, is located within a housing including a forward top wall section defined by an access door (50) that is hinged for being lifted from a substantially horizontal position to a raised position permitting access to the cutter bar. A towing tongue (24) mounted at the side of the carrier frame (12) of the mower (10) is mounted for swinging horizontally about a vertical axis and is operatively associated with the access door (50) so that the open access door (50) is closed when the tongue (24) is swung toward the open door (50). In one embodiment, the association is a specially shaped door support member fixed to the tongue (24). In a second embodiment, the association is established by a linkage (66), and in a third embodiment, the association is through a hydraulic circuit (90), including a door cylinder (82) coupled for moving the door (50) between its open and closed position, coupled to the hydraulic tongue swing cylinder (28) such that when the tongue swung cylinder (82) is actuated for swinging the tongue (24) toward the open access door (50), the access door (50) is closed by the door cylinder (82) prior to the operation of the tongue swing cylinder (28).